Chapter twenty-one
The Wright Place
Carthage, IL

Spencer

The next morning Spencer was deeply gratified when Susanna, carefully coated in sunscreen, lifted her face to the sun without fear for the first time. "How did you sleep?" He asked.

"Like a log once I figured out the radio." She replied. He chuckled. He admired her courage, appreciated her intelligence, was charmed by her wit so far, and found her utterly beautiful, not that the last mattered. But no one was perfect, as he drifted off the night before he'd heard the faint sounds of Coast to Coast coming through the wall. "I do want to call Art Bell and thank him."

"As soon as the moratorium on phones is lifted. Breakfast?"

"Please."

They had been told that the best place for breakfast was a little diner across from the county courthouse. Unfortunately they didn't have a table big enough for everyone, but that was all right. He and Susanna shared a booth not far from JJ and her family. "So what would you like for breakfast?"

"I have no idea."

Right, this place probably didn't have a Braille menu. "Um, I could read the menu…"

"I wouldn't know what most of it was anyway."

"What do you usually eat for breakfast?"

"Oatmeal. Milk. Bacon on Sundays. Pancakes on holidays. Scrambled eggs when you're sick. As for what I want….hum…let's try this. I want to be full enough to not be hungry in two hours but not so much that I'm uncomfortable, and I want enough energy to get through what's probably going to be a busy day. And I want something new but not too new, and something not too messy to eat in public. Does that help?"

Actually, it did. "Ever have an English muffin?"

"No."

Do you like ham?"

"Yes."

"Coffee? Tea?"

"Momma used to make tea from herbs, do they have that?"

"Right." The waitress came over. "Two ham and cheese omelets with English muffins and milk, please. One coffee, one herbal tea." He waited for her to go. "Those come with potatoes as well. I would have said pancakes but sometimes that many carbs can make you sleepy."

"And I want to keep my wits about me. What's an omelet?"

"They mix cheese and diced up ham in with some scrambled eggs and fold it up so it's easier to eat."

Her face brightened. "That sounds perfect."

Just then Morgan came up. "We got them." He said, "All seven boys."

Susanna's grin beamed out across the room as Spencer slid over to make room and Morgan signaled for coffee. "How?"

"Garcia found a list of families who had received or were going to receive boys on Michael's laptop. We cross-referenced the names with Anna Holman's address book and then Carol Winters coordinated the local and regional teams going in early this morning. We just got word that the last of the boys was found."

"Oh wonderful!" Susanna was all smiles. "It just…"

"It just?" Spencer asked.

"Is it always this…anticlimactic?"

Spencer and Morgan both chuckled. "You want it that way when kids are involved." Morgan told her. "Quick and quiet is the best way to go. Besides, this isn't over. They found guys involved with the Knights at every house and two more weapons caches."

"Were all of them off the grid?" Spencer asked.

"Yep, if I didn't know better, I'd say he had a terror cell network going, but I can't figure out why."

"That's the big question, isn't it?"

Sheriff's station
Carthage, IL

After a quick stop at the local market they reached the station where Leah was waiting. "I spoke to Momma." She told Susanna. "We're going to keep the children at home."

"And you're going to look after all of them?" Her older sister asked.

"No, if she has to stay in prison one of the young families in the church is going to come out and help. She spoke with Pastor Goodwin this morning, they finally let her call."

Susanna sighed, and Spencer quietly sighed along with her. He knew that she'd hoped this would be the opportunity to get her family out of this cult for good. "Well, that will keep them together at least."

"Are you still leaving?"

"Yes. There are things I want to do with my life, and I don't want to be anyone's burden."

For a moment there was something longing in Leah's face. "Will you write?"

"If I can find someone to write for me."

"You won't have any problem with that." Spencer told her.

Susanna smiled at him. "Thank you."

Holman Farm
Carthage, IL

Later that day they released the crime scene. Spencer and Susanna headed back to the farm so she could pack her things and they could return to DC to work on the case from there. Morgan had volunteered to go with them. "I know what happens when I let you wander off anywhere other than DC." Morgan said.

She didn't have much. Her clothes, hair things, brush. Her precious radio and a jar of hard candy. Her Braille slate and stylus and a stack of paper. A box of envelopes and stamps. "What about the books?" He asked.

"The only one I own outright is the bible." She nodded in the direction of a set of shelves on the far side of the small, mean room.

Spencer blinked. The bible in Braille ran to eighteen volumes and looked to take up about five feet of shelf space. "Can we pick one up in DC?"

She smiled. "Easily. They're free."

"Good." They only had so much room on the plane.

"Reid!" Morgan called up from downstairs.

That was his urgent voice so they headed back downstairs. There they found Anna and Leah Holman along with two young men in navy jackets and khakis and an older, smaller man in an expensive suit, bow tie and slicked-down comb over. Spencer saw his eyes go wide when he stepped into view with Susanna on his arm. "It's us." Leah said to her, "Me and Momma. They released her on her own word today. Everyone else has to make bail."

"Oh." Susanna replied. "Well, that's a good thing. I'm not staying; I'm just here to pack."

"You Jezebel!" Anna Holman spat at her daughter. "You're not taking a thing out of this house that your father's hard work paid for!"

Spencer felt Susanna go still beside him. "All right Mother." She agreed quietly.

They turned toward the door but that strident voice stopped them. "I said not a thing!" Susanna froze in place. "You can just leave like the whore you are!" As Spencer watched a light came into the old man's eyes and he started to smile.

Susanna didn't say anything for a long moment. "Spencer, is that bag still in the car?"

"I'll go." Morgan said.

They stood there for too many long, tense moments until Morgan returned, Spencer eyeing the three men while Anna Holman ranted on about ungrateful children and sin. Spencer made certain his badge was in full view, if nothing else he did not like the way this older man was looking at Susanna. It only seemed like forever before Morgan returned, and Susanna took the bag with a mumbled thank you before heading to a powder room nearby, which turned off the ranting for the moment. "I don't believe we've met." Spencer said.

"I'm Pastor Goodwin." The older man replied in a soft drawl. He didn't bother to introduce his associates. "And you gentlemen are?"

"I'm SSA Derek Morgan." Morgan replied. "This is SSA Dr. Spencer Reid. We're with the FBI."

Goodwin didn't pop a single micro-expression. "A pleasure to meet you two gentlemen."

Just then Susanna came out of the bathroom, taking the smile off the old man's face. She'd changed into JJ's old workout clothes, and had all of her clothing tucked into a neat bundle topped with her hat. "It's all there." She told her mother as she placed the bundle on the hall table. "Every stitch." She put her shoes right under the table. Even that.

"Leave the ring too! I know what you did last night, you don't deserve it!"

Spencer watched Susanna bristle at that, but she pulled a small, silver ring off her finger and left it on the table. "Well…good bye Momma. Good-bye Leah."

No one said anything as the trio left the house and walked off the porch. But before they got far they heard the strident voice again. "I said you take nothing!"

Susanna stopped for a moment, not turning around. In that moment, for the first time, Spencer saw real fear on her face. "Spencer?" She asked quietly. In an instant he was at her side. She curled an arm around his bicep once again, and then dropped her cane on the grass. "Let's go." They headed for the car, with him carefully leading the way, with her clinging closer than before. "It appears that I am at your mercy, Sir Knight." She murmured.

Spencer's mind whirled with this. She no longer had even the clothes on her back, she had no money, no ID and without help now couldn't even move without difficulty. She was quite literally at his mercy. For a moment he thought of Maeve and he almost wanted to panic. But he didn't. I can do this, he thought; we can do this, with enough help. "It's a good thing we're going to Camelot then." He replied as they got in the car and left for good.

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Note: I just posted a major profile update with links to the research behind my bad guys. I also set up a section for this story with some music and a picture of model Nastya Kumarova done up as Susanna, with much thanks to Jabberswife. If you're interested go take a look